Advertising Media Planning.docx

7/27/2019 Advertising Media Planning.docx

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Advertising Media Planning: A Primer

1. Introduction

The two basic tasks of marketing communications are message creation andmessage dissemination. Media planning supports message dissemination.Media planning helps you determine which media to use--be it televisionprograms, newspapers, bus-stop posters, in-store displays, banner ads onthe Web, or a flyer on Facebook. It also tells you when and where to usemedia in order to reach your desired audience. Simply put, media planningrefers to the process of selecting media time and space to disseminateadvertising messages in order to accomplish marketing objectives. Whenadvertisers run commercials during the Super Bowl game at more than $2.5million per thirty-second spot, for example, media planners are involved inthe negotiation and placement.

Media planners often see their role from a brand contact perspective.Instead of focusing solely on what medium is used for messagedissemination, media planners also pay attention to how to create andmanage brand contact. Brand contact is any planned and unplanned formof exposure to and interaction with a product or service. For example, whenyou see an ad for Volkswagen on TV, hear a Mazda's "zoom zoom" slogan onthe radio, are told by a friend that her iPod is the greatest invention, orsample a new flavour of Piranha energy drink at the grocery store, you arehaving a brand contact. Television commercials, radio ads, and product

sampling are planned forms of brand contact. Word of mouth is anunplanned brand contact -- advertisers normally do not plan for word ofmouth. From the consumer's perspective, however, unplanned forms ofbrand contact may be more influential because they are less suspiciouscompared to advertising.

The brand contact perspective shows how the role of media planners hasexpanded. First, media planners have moved from focusing only ontraditional media to integrating traditional media and new media. New media-- cable and satellite television, satellite radio, business-to-business e-media, consumer Internet, movie screen advertising and videogame

advertising -- is playing an increasingly significant role. Spending on newadvertising mediais forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 16.9percent from 2005-2009, reaching $68.62 billion by 2009, while traditionalmedia advertising is expected to rise only 4.2 percent on a compound annualbasis during the same period to $192.28 billion.[1]

Second, media planners are making more use of product placements now, inlieu of advertising insertions. Advertising insertions, like print ads or
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television commercials, are made separately from the content and areinserted into it. The ads are distinct from the articles or TV programs, not apart of them. As a result, the ads seem intrusive. In contrast, productplacement (also called brand placement or branded entertainment) blendsproduct information with the content itself. Whether content is a television

program, movie, video game or other form of entertainment, productplacement puts the brand message into the entertainment content. Forexample, in the movie E.T., the extraterrestrial eats Reese's Pieces candy.The candy was authentically integrated into the movie ?and sales of Reese'sPieces soared 80% after the movie, catapulting the new product tomainstream status.[2] On the other hand, inappropriate or excessiveproduct placements may do more harm than good to the brand.

Finally, the role of media planners has expanded as media planners havemoved beyond planned messages to take advantage of unplanned messagesas well. Whereas planned messages are what advertisers initiate -- like anad, press release or sales promotion -- unplanned messages are ofteninitiated by people and organizations other than advertisers themselves.Word of mouth, both online and offline, is one form of unplanned message.Although advertisers have little direct control over the flow of unplannedmessages, they can facilitate such a flow.

For example, advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusly (CP+B) created aviral marketing mascot, the Subservient Chicken, for Burger King toillustrate its slogan "Have It Your Way." Visitors to thewww.subservientchicken.com site can ask the chicken to make a move, such

as jump, dance or lay an egg. In the first two weeks after the site's launch,the Subservient Chicken story appeared on 63 broadcast segments,including five separate segments in television shows unplanned success.[3]Within months, the site had generated 426 million hits from 15 millionunique visitors averaging six minutes per session.[4] Many visitors learnedabout the site through word of mouth, both online and offline. More recently,specialized agencies have started to hire word of mouth agents to work foradvertisers on a fee basis. Initial research suggests that many consumersreact positively to this kind of word of mouth communication.[5] Forexample, Rock Bottom brew pub chain, reported a 76% jump in 2003revenues after hired gun Buzz-Agent launched a 13-week word of mouthcampaign employing 1,073 of its "agents" to get the word out.[6]

These new approaches have altered how media planning works in theadvertising process. "Seven years ago media was the last five minutes of thepresentation. Now it's reversed," said Rishad Tobaccowala of Publicise GroupMedia, whose fast-growing Starcom division helps clients buy and measureinteractive, mobile, and gaming ads.[7] Media planners are playing an
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increasingly important role in today's advertising industry because of thecontinuing proliferation of new media options and the increased complexityof media and audience research.

2. Media Objectives

How is a media plan developed? Media planning is a four-step process whichconsists of 1) setting media objectives in light of marketing and advertisingobjectives, 2) developing a media strategy for implementing mediaobjectives, 3) designing media tactics for realizing media strategy, and 4)proposing procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of the mediaplan.

Let's take a look at the planning process through an example: P&G's launchof the Gillette Fusion shaving system for men in early 2006. First, P&G'smedia objectives called for a $200 million media blitz to reach men in theU.S.

Second, P&G's strategy included a mix of national media to introduce thebrands. For example, television advertising, such as a $5 million Super Bowlad campaign, portrayed Fusion as an advanced technology found in a secretgovernment UFO lab. The TV ads also established the brand's signatureorange and blue color scheme. In store aisles, 180,000 display unitspromoted Fusion, using the brand's colors to catch consumers' attention."We're trying to put the product wherever men shop," said Pauline Munroe,marketing director for blades and razors in P&G's Gillette business unit.[8]

Third, P&G's media tactics -- such as a Father's Day sweepstakes, anepisode of NBC's The Apprentice in which the show's teams competed topromote the razor, and sponsorship of competitive surfing -- helped thecompany reach men of all ages. "Fusion will get so much attention that it willdrive a lot of men to try these grooming products," said Gary Stibel of NewEngland Consulting Group.[9]Finally, P&G used sales and market sharetargets to assess the effectiveness of the media plan. P&G expects sales ofFusion to reach $1 billion in sales by year three.[10] P&G knows that thebrand has already achieved 25% market share in the U.S. Thus, although$200 million seems like a lot to spend on advertising a new product, itrepresents a sound financial investment toward the tremendous future profitthat P&G will gain from the new shaving system.

Now, let's take a deeper look into the media planning process. Mediaplanning, such as planning the marketing communications for the launch ofthe Fusion new shaving system, starts with setting media objectives. Mediaobjectives usually consist of two key components: target audience and
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communication goals. The target audience component of the mediaobjectives defines who the intended target of the campaign is. For example,P&G's target audience objective for its Fusion shaving system was men 18-40 years old.The communications goals component of the media objectivesdefines how manyof the audience the campaign intends to reach and how

many times it will reach them. In short, media objectives are a series ofstatements that specify what exactly the media plan intends to accomplish.The objectives represent the most important goals of brand messagedissemination, and they are the concrete steps to accomplish marketingobjectives.

The next two sections (2.1. and 2.2.) provide details on target audience andcommunication goals. You'll learn about sources of data to use to identifyyour target audience. You'll also learn how to quantify communication plans.

2.1. Target Audience

The first objective of a media plan is to select the target audience: thepeople whom the media plan attempts to influence through various forms ofbrand contact. Because media objectives are subordinate to marketing andadvertising objectives, it is essential to understand how the target audienceis defined in the marketing and advertising objectives. The definition may ormay not be exactly the same, depending on the marketing and advertisingobjectives and strategies.

A common marketing objective is to increase sales by a specific amount. But

this marketing objective does not specify a target audience, which is why themedia objective is needed. Consider Kellogg's Corn Flakes and all thedifferent strategies the advertiser could use to increase sales amongdifferent target audiences. For example, one target audience might becurrent customers -- encouraging people who eat one bowl a day to also"munch" the cereal as a snack. Or, the advertiser might target competitors'customers, encouraging them to switch brands. Or, the advertiser mighttarget young adults who are shifting from high sugar "kids cereals" to moreadult breakfast fare. Finally, the advertiser could target a broader lower-income demographic. The point is that each campaign could increase salesvia a different target audience.

Marketers analyze the market situation to identify the potential avenues forboosting sales increase and consider how advertising might achieve thoseaims. If the advertiser chooses to attract competitors' customers -- like whatSprint does to attract users of other wireless services -- the media plan willneed to define the target audience to be brand switchers and will thenidentify reasons to give those potential switchers to switch, such as greater


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convenience, lower cost, or additional plan features. For example, in 2006Sprint Nextel ran an ad campaign urging consumers to switch to Sprintbecause "no one has a more powerful network."[11]

2.1.1 Demographics and Psychographics

The target audience is often defined in terms of demographics andpsychographics. Syndicated research services such as Simmons MarketResearch Bureau (SMRB or Simmons) and Media mark Research Inc. (MRI)provide national data on a number ofdemographics of U.S. consumers,including gender, age, education, household income, marital status,employment status, type of residence, and number of children in thehousehold. Using demographic variables, for example, the target audience ofa media plan could be "individuals who are 26-to-45 years old with yearlyhousehold income of $50,000 or more" or "all households with children age3 years or younger."

Some advertisers believe that demographic definitions of a target audienceare too ambiguous, because individual consumers that fit such definitionscan be quite different in terms of their brand preference and purchasebehaviour. For example, think about the students in a media planning class.Even though some of them are the same age and gender, they may likedifferent brands of toothpaste, shampoo, cereal, clothing, and otherproducts. Therefore, media planners use psychographics to refine thedefinition of the target audience.

Psychographics is a generic term for consumers' personality traits(serious, funny, conservative), beliefs and attitudes about social issues(opinions about abortion, environment, globalization), personal interests(music, sports, movie going), and shopping orientations (recreationalshoppers, price-sensitive shoppers, convenience shoppers). Mazda, forexample, doesn't define its target audience by age, income or gender, butby psychographic principles. Mazda targets people who have a need for self-expression, are young at heart, and love to drive.[12]

One psychographic system which media planners often use is called VALS(short for Values and Lifestyles), which was developed by SRI in the 1980s.

VALS places U.S. adult consumers into one of eight segments based on theirresponses to the VALS questionnaire. The eight segments are: Innovators,Thinkers, Achievers, Experiencers, Believers, Strivers, Makers and Survivors.Each segment has a unique set of psychological characteristics. For example,Innovators are "successful, sophisticated, take-charge people with high self-esteem. Because they have such abundant resources, they exhibit all threeprimary motivations in varying degrees. They are change leaders and are
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the most receptive to new ideas and technologies. Innovators are veryactive consumers, and their purchases reflect cultivated tastes for upscale,niche products and services."[13] Defining a target audience bypsychographic variables helps not only creative directors with thedevelopment of advertising appeals but also media planners with the

selection of effective media channels. If a psychographic group of consumerslikes playing golf, for example, they are likely to read golf-related magazinesand visit golf-related Web sites.

2.1.2. Generational Cohorts

In addition to demographics and psychographics, generational cohort isanother useful concept for selecting the target audience. Because themembers of a particular generational cohort are likely to have had similarexperiences during their formative years, they maintain analogous socialviews, attitudes, and values. Generational cohorts in the U.S. are the BabyBoomers (about 70 million people born 1945-1964), Generation X (about 17million people born in 1965-1978), and Generation Y (about 60 millionpeople born between 1979 and 1994). Each of the cohorts possesses distinctcharacteristics in their lifestyles and often serves as a reference group fromwhich finer segments of the target audiences can be selected for specificadvertising campaigns.

An interesting example of a generational cohort is "kogals" in Japan.Originating from the world for "high school," kogals are a unique segment ofyoung women in urban Japan who conspicuously display their disposable

incomes through unique tastes in fashion, music, and social activity. Theyhave the leisure time to invent new ways of using electronic gadgets. Forexample, they started changing mobile phones' ring tones from boring beepsto various popular songs and changing screen savers from dull defaults tocute pictures. Manufacturers observe kogals and listen to what they say isunsatisfactory about the products. In some cases, manufacturers simplyimitate the new usages that kogals spontaneously invented and incorporatethese usages part of their own new commercial services, thereby increasingsales.[14]

2.1.3. Product and Brand Usage

Target audiences can also be more precisely defined by their consumptionbehaviour. Product usage includes both brand usage (the use of a specificbrand such as Special K cereal or Dove soap) and category usage (the use ofa product category such as facial tissue or chewing gum). Product usecommonly has four levels: heavy users, medium users, light users and non-users. The levels of use depend on the type of product. For example,


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Simmons defines heavy domestic beer users as those who consume five ormore cans in the past 30 days, medium beer users as those who consumertwo to four cans, and light users as those who consume one can in 30 days.For travel, Simmons' definitions are: three foreign trips per year indicateheavy travel users, 2 foreign trips per year are medium travel users, and 1

trip per year are light travel users. There is a popular saying in the industry:"the twenty percent who are heavy users account for eighty percent of thesales of a product." This highlights the importance of heavy users for abrand's performance. Examples of defining a target audience by productusage can be "individuals who dine out at least four times in a month" or"individuals who made domestic trips twice or more last year."

Similarly, brand usage has several categories. Brand loyals are those whouse the same brand all the time. Primary users use a brand most of the timebut occasionally also use other brands in the same category; they aresecondary users for these competing brands. Brand switchers are those whohave no brand preference for a given product category but choose a brandon the basis of situational factors. An analysis of the brand usage pattern ishelpful for the identification of the appropriate target audience. Simmons[15] and MRI [16] offer brand usage data for many national brands.

2.1.4. Primary and Secondary Target Audience

The target audience in a media plan can be either primary or secondary. Aprimary target audience is one that plays a major role in purchase decisions,while a secondary target audience plays a less decisive role. In the case of

video game players, for example, children's requests often initiate apurchase process; parents often respect their children's brand selection.Thus, it is reasonable to consider children as the primary target audienceand their parents as the secondary target audience. If the parents are awareof the advertised brand, it will be easier for children to convince them of thepurchase. Media planners need to examine and identify the role ofconsumers in shopping, buying and consuming a product or service to targetthe right groups of consumers effectively.

2.1.5. The Size of Target Audiences

In the process of defining a target audience, media planners often examineand specify the actual size of a target audience -- how many people orhouseholds fit the definition. Knowing the actual size helps advertisers toestimate the potential buying power of the target audience. For example, ifthe target audience of a campaign is defined as working women 26-to-44years old who are interested in receiving daily news updates on their mobile


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phones, media planners should estimate the number of these women in theU.S. to quantify the sales potential.

As another example, if the target audience consists of 2,000,000 householdsin the U.S. and each household purchases the brand two times a month, the

monthly sales would be 4,000,000 units. The U.S. Census Bureau [17]provides the most authoritative data about demographics of the U.S.population by state. Whereas the U.S. Census provides demographic data,market research services such as Simmons and MRI provide demographicdata that is linked to product data. This means that media planners can getinformation about consumers of hundreds of product types.

2.2. Communication Goals

After media planners define the target audience for a media plan, they setcommunication goals: to what degree the target audience must be exposedto (and interact with) brand messages in order to achieve advertising andmarketing objectives. For example, one communication goal can be that 75percent of the target audience will see the brand in television commercials atleast once during a period of three months. Another communication goal isthat 25 percent of the target audience will form a preference for a new brandin the first month of the brand launch. The different communication goalscan be better understood in a hierarchy of advertising objectives, such as BillHarvey's expansion of an earlier model of Advertising Research Foundation(ARF).[18]

The expanded ARF model has ten levels, as shown in Figure 1. The firstthree levels of goals from the bottom -- vehicle distribution, vehicleexposure, and advertising exposure -- are particularly relevant for mediaplanning. Vehicle distribution refers to the coverage of a media vehicle, suchas the number of copies that a magazine or newspaper issue has, or thenumber of households that can tune in to a given television channel. Vehicleexposure refers to the number of individuals exposed to the media vehicle,such as the number of people who read a magazine or watched a televisionprogram.Advertising exposure refers to the number of individuals exposedan ad or a commercial itself.

It is important to note the difference between vehicle exposure andadvertising exposure for many media with editorial content. For example,not all audience members of a television program will watch all thecommercials interspersed in the program. A study shows that only 68percent of television audiences watch the commercials in televisionprograms.[19] Vehicle exposure represents only an opportunity to see anad, not necessarily that the ad has actually been seen. In reality, advertising
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exposure is rarely measured, and media planners use vehicle exposure as aproxy measure of advertising exposure.

Another group of communication goals is advertising recall, advertisingpersuasion, leads and sales.Advertising recallrepresents the cognitive effect

of the ad, advertising persuasion represents the emotional effect of the ad,and leads and sales are the behavioral effects of the ad. Each can bespecified in a media plan as a communication goal. For example, acommunication goal can specify that 50% of the target audience will recallthe radio ad during the month of the campaign, or that a campaign willgenerate 3000 leads.

Figure 1ARF Model Expanded for Interactive

2.2.1. Reach, Frequency and Gross Rating Points

Media planners often define the communication goals of a media plan usingthe three interrelated concepts of reach, gross rating points, and frequency.Media planners use reach to set their objective for the total number ofpeople exposed to the media plan. Reach is one of the most important termsin media planning and has three characteristics. First, reach is a percentage,although the percentage sign is rarely used. When reach is stated, mediaplanners are aware of the size of the target audience. For example, if amedia plan targets the roughly 5 million of women who are 18-25 years old,then a reach of 50 means that 50% or 2.5 million of the target audience will

exposed to some of the media vehicles in the media plan. Second, reachmeasures the accumulation of audience over time. Because reach is alwaysdefined for a certain period of time, the number of audience membersexposed to the media vehicles in a media plan increases over time. Forexample, reach may grow from 20 (20%) in the first week to 60 (60%) inthe fourth week. The pattern of audience accumulation varies depending onthe media vehicles in the media plan. Third, reach doesn't double-countpeople exposed multiple times if the media plan involves repeated ads in onemedia category or ads in multiple media categories. Media planners usereach because it represents that total number of people exposed to themarketing communication.

Besides reach, media planners use Gross Rating Points as a shorthandmeasure of the total amount of exposure they want to buy from mediaoutlets such as TV networks. For example, the 2006 Super Bowl gamereceived a rating of 42, which means 42 percent of U.S. televisionhouseholds tuned in to the program. If an advertiser planned to run acommercial once during the Super Bowl, that ad would appear in 42% of


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households. If the commercial was run only once, the reach is equal to therating of the program, a GRP of 42. If the advertiser's media plan called forrunning the ad twice during the Super Bowl, the GRP would be 2*42 = 84.

Media planners often think in terms of gross rating points because ad prices

often scale with this measure. As a rule of thumb, it costs about twice asmuch to obtain a GRP of 84 as to obtain a GRP of 42. A media plan that callsfor a GRP of 84 doesn't necessarily mean that the advertiser must advertisetwice on the Super Bowl. The advertiser could also buy 6 spots on popularprimetime shows that each have a rating of 14 (6*14 = 84) or buy a largenumber of spots (say 42 spots) on a range of niche-market cable TVprograms, radio stations or magazines that have a rating of 2. Some mediavehicles are best-suited to specific target audiences. For example, theNickelodeon TV channel controls 53% of kids GRPs.[20]

Notice the difference between GRP and reach: GRP counts total exposureswhile reach counts unique people exposed. Thus, GRP does double-countpeople who see ads multiple times. Frequency connects the concept of reachwith that of GRP. To see this relationship between GRP and reach, let'sconsider what happens when an advertiser puts two spots on the Super Bowl-- one during the first half of the game and another in the second half. Asmentioned earlier, this example plan has a GRP of 84. But what is the reach?That depends on how many people watch both halves of the game. Ratingservices such as A.C. Nielsen monitor who watches the game, when theywatch, and whether they watch the first half or the second half or bothhalves of the game.

These rating services know that, for example, 1/3 of the game-watchinghouseholds stop watching after the first half and 1/3 of game-watchinghouseholds start watching during the second half. This means that, although42% of households are tuned in to the game during each half, it's not thesame 42% for both halves. Thus, the reach of the first ad is 42, but thenone-third of these households (42%*1/3 = 14% of all households) tune outbefore the second ad during the second half. This means that only 28% of allhouseholds watch both first and second halves of the game and see the adtwice. This 28% of households who are still watching when the second spotshows won't add to the reach when they see the second spot. During thesecond half, a different 14% of U.S. households tune in. These new watchersdo count toward the reach during the second half because they didn't seethe ad during the first half. Thus, the total reach for the game for the two-adplan is 42+14 = 56.

Frequency is the ratio of GRP over reach. Frequency is a measure ofrepetition. The formula of calculating frequency is:
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Frequency = Gross rating points / Reach

Using the Super Bowl example again, if the GRPs were 84 and the reach was56, then the frequency would then be 1.5 (84/56=1.5). A frequency of 1.5would mean that, on average, audience members of the Super Bowl game

had one-and-a-half opportunities to watch the ad.

The media objectives of a media plan often call for some combination ofreach and frequency. Media planners want the highest reach possiblebecause that means more people will be exposed to the campaign, whichshould lead to more brand awareness, customer loyalty, sales, and so on.Media planners also seek high frequency if they feel that consumers will onlytake action (that is, buy the product) after multiple exposures to thecampaign. For example, launching a new brand or teaching consumers aboutthe features of a product (like the features of a five-bladed shaving system)may take several impressions.

Thus, reach indicates the media dispersion while frequency shows the mediarepetition. Notice that the formula for frequency can be flipped to make aformula for GRPs; GRPs are the product of reach multiplied by frequency. Ifa media plan calls for a broad reach and a high frequency, then it calls forvery high GRPs (lots of ad exposures to lots of people). Achieving a veryhigh GRP is very expensive, however, and budget issues may preclude sucha high GRP. Thus, media planners may start with budget, then estimate theGRPs that they can afford and then either sacrifice reach to maintainfrequency or let frequency drop to one in order to maximize reach.

2.2.2. Frequency Distribution, Effective Frequency and EffectiveReach

Media planners also consider frequency distribution in order to fullyunderstand exactly how many exposures different people experience; thatis, how many people will see the ad once, twice, three times, etc. This letsthe planner estimate the effective reach of the plan at the effectivefrequency needed by the campaign ?the number of people who see the ads asufficient number of times for the media plan to be effective.

Effective frequencyrefers to the minimum number of media exposures for acommunication goal to be achieved, while effective reach is the reach (% ofhouseholds) at the effective frequency level. Media planners choose aneffective frequency based on the communication goals. Communication goalsvary across the continuum from awareness, preference, attitude change totrial, purchase, and repurchase. To change brand attitude requires moreexposures (higher effective frequency) than does creating brand awareness.


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If the effective frequency is set for a given communication goal, the reach atthat effective frequency level will be the effective reach.

Let's go back to the Super Bowl example. A total of 28% of households seethe ad twice by watching the entirety of the game. During the first half, 14%

of households see the ad once but then don't watch the second half. Another14% join the game in progress and see the ad once during the second half.Thus, 14+14 = 28% see the ad just once. This leaves 44% of households(100% - 28% - 28%) who never see the ad. In summary, the frequencydistribution is: reach of 28 at the frequency of 2; reach of 28 at thefrequency of 1; and reach of 44 at the frequency of 0 (also called non-reach).

Let's extend this example by continuing this hypothetical campaign. On theThursday after the Super Bowl, the advertiser does one more media blitz?showing an encore of their Super Bowl ad on all major networks during theprime time slot of 8:00 to 8:30 PM. This practice of advertising on multiplechannels at the same time ensures that most people will see the adregardless of which channel they watch. Table 2 shows the viewer data,collected from households across the country, with the percentage ofhouseholds who were watching during various combinations of the threetime slots.

Table 2Ratings of the Three Time Slots

Viewers of the Ad's Time Slot Data

Segment SuperBowl FirstHalf

SuperBowlSecondHalf

Prime TimeBlitz

Frequency % ofHouseholds

1 0 30

2 X 1 3

3 X 1 2

4 X 1 14

5 X X 2 5

6 X X 2 11

7 X X 2 12

8 X X X 3 23

Rating 42 42 60


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Media planners can process this data to compute the frequency distribution(see Table 3) by tallying the total percentage of households that saw the ad0, 1, 2, etc. times.

Table 3

Frequency Distribution of the Plan

Frequency Reach

0 30

1 19

2 28

3 23

If the advertiser believes that its ads are only effective if they are seen at

least twice, then the advertiser will want to know what percentage ofhouseholds saw the ad two or more times. In this example, the effectivereach is 51 because that is the sum of the reaches for frequencies 2 and 3combined.

GRPs of this media plan were 144 and reach was 70, because 30% ofhouseholds did not watch during any of the three times the ad was shown,resulting in an average frequency of 2.1. The frequency distribution of theplan is in Table 9B. That is, 23 percent of the households watched the timeslot three times, 28 percent twice, 19 percent once, and 30 percent did notwatch at all.

2.2.3. Setting Communication Goals

Media planners can set communication goals based on the level of reach.That is, how many of the target audience should be reached with the mediaplan, say 50%, 75% or 95%? Theoretically, a reach of 100 is possible, but itis rarely a communication goal because some audience members may notuse any of the media, making them unreachable. What, then, would be theoptimal level of reach for a given product category or a market situation?There is no quick answer to this question; it all depends on the media

planner's analysis of major factors facing the brand.

Media experts suggest high reach is appropriate when something new isassociated with the brand, such as new features, new sales incentives, newpackaging or new service opportunities.[21] The newness requires a highlevel of awareness among the target audience. A high reach is also oftennecessary in three other situations: a) advertising in support of sales


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promotion activities, b) for reminder advertising for a mass market product,and c) when the brand faces severe competition.

When setting levels of frequency, media planners have more rules of thumbto choose from when setting levels of reach. For example, media planners

have often been setting a frequency of 3 during a purchase cycle, followingMichael Naples' seminal study of effective frequency published in 1979.[22]Naples' study suggests that there is a threshold level of repetition;advertising below the threshold level will be ineffective. Therefore, threeexposures during a purchase cycle are necessary. Many media planners stilluse this rule in setting the effective frequency of a media plan.

More recently, Philip Jones found that one exposure generates the highestproportion of sales and that additional exposures add very little to the effectof the first.[23] Erwin Ephron further developed the concept of "recencyplanning" and suggested that one exposure within a purchase cycle shouldbe set as close to the actual purchase moment as possible.[24] Recencyplanning starts with the idea that when is more important than how many;That is, advertising will be most effective if it is timed to when a consumer isin the market to buy the product or service. In the short-term, therefore,additional exposures are likely to be wasteful because audience membersare not in the buying mode. In some cases, advertisers know whenconsumers are in the market, such as Wyoming's ads during the springwhen many people are planning summer vacations.

Joseph W. Ostrow created a decision model to help media planners

determine the optimal frequency level through assessing marketing factors,copy factors and media factors.[25] Starting with a base effective frequencyof 3, the media planner makes frequency adjustments based on a series of20 factors in three categories. As illustrated in Table 4, each categoryincludes several statements, upon which the media planner makesjudgments by circling an appropriate rating in that row of the chart. Forexample, the first factor asks the planner to rate whether the product is an"Established brand" or "New brand." A totally new brand will require higherfrequency than an established brand, and so the planner would circle the"+.2" frequency adjustment. After assessing the factors, the media plannersums the adjustments to calculate the recommended effective frequency.Media planners may modify the model by adding or removing statements tomake the estimate more appropriate.

Table 4The Ostrow Model of Effective Frequency

Low Required Frequency High Required
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Frequency Adjustment Frequency

Market Factors

Established brand -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 New brand

High brand share -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low brand share

High brand loyalty -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low brand loyalty

Long purchase cycle -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Short purchase cycle

Less frequent usage -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Frequency usage

Low share of voice -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High share of voice

Target other group -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Target old people orchildren

Message Factors

Low message

complexity

-.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High message

complexityHigh messageuniqueness

-.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low messageuniqueness

Continuing campaign -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 New campaign

Product-focusedmessage

-.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Image-focusedmessage

Low message variety -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High message variety

High wearout -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low wearout

Large advertising units -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Small advertising units

Media Factors

Low clutter -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 High clutter

Favorable editorialsetting

-.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Neutral editorial setting

High audienceattentiveness

-.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low audienceattentiveness

Continuous scheduling -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Pulse or flightscheduling

Few media vehicles -.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 More media vehiclesHigh repeat exposuremedia

-.2 -.1 +.1 +.2 Low repeat exposuremedia

When setting frequency level goals, media planners know that higher-levelcommunication goals such as persuasion and lead generation (as shown inthe expanded ARF model in Figure 9A) require higher frequency levels. For


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example, brand awareness usually requires a lower level of frequency thanadvertising persuasion and lead generation. In other words, a media planthat intends to change the brand preference among consumers of competingbrands would need a higher frequency of advertising exposures than amedia plan that intends to introduce a new brand.

In addition to the reach and frequency goals, media planners may set goalsfor other forms of communication. For example, promotional activities maybe used in a media plan, such as sweepstakes, contests and coupons. Mediaplanners estimate and specify response rates for these activities. Byestablishing communication goals, media planners set the stage forassessing the effectiveness of a media plan at the end.

3. Media Strategies

Media planners make three crucial decisions: where to advertise(geography), when to advertise (timing), and what media categories to use(media mix). Moreover, they make these decisions in the face of budgetconstraints. The actual amount of money that an advertiser spends onmarketing communications can vary widely, from billions of dollars formultinational giants such as Procter & Gamble, to a few thousand dollars forlocal "mom-n-pop" stores. In general, companies spend as little as 1% tomore than 20% of revenues on advertising, depending on the nature of theirbusiness. Regardless of the budget, some media options are more costeffective than others. It is the job of media planners to formulate the bestmedia strategies -- allocating budget across media categories, geographies,

and time. Let's look at each of these three decisions in turn, and thenconsider cost effectiveness.

3.1. Media Mix Decisions

Which media should the advertiser use? Media planners craft a media mix byconsidering a budget-conscious intersection between their media objectivesand the properties of the various potential media vehicles. That is, theyconsider how each media vehicle provides a cost-effective contribution toattaining the objectives, and then they select the combination of vehiclesthat best attain all of the objectives.

When making media mix decisions, planners look to a whole spectrum ofmedia, not just to traditional media vehicles such as TV, radio, and print.That is, media planners consider all the opportunities that consumers havefor contact with the brand. These opportunities can be non-traditional brandcontact opportunities such as online advertising, sweepstakes, sponsorships,product placements, direct mail, mobile phones, blogs, and podcasts. The
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scale and situations of media use are especially important when evaluatingsuitable brand contact opportunities. For example, product placement in avideo game makes sense if the target audience plays video games.Sweepstakes make sense if many of the target audience find sweepstakesattractive.

3.1.1 Mix Strategy: Media Concentration vs. Media Dispersion

A media planner's first media mix decision is to choose between a mediaconcentration approach or a media dispersion approach. The mediaconcentration approach uses fewer media categories and greater spendingper category. This lets the media planner create higher frequency andrepetition within that one media category. Media planners will choose aconcentration approach if they are worried that their brand's ads will sharespace with competing brands, leading to confusion among consumers andfailure of the media objectives.For example, when Nestle launched its 99%fat-free cereal Fitnesse, the similarity of ads actually increased the sales ofthe competing Kellogg's Special K Cereal.[26]

Media planners can calculate or measure share of voice to estimate thedominance of their message in each category of media they use. Share ofvoice is the percentage of spending by one brand in a given media categoryrelative to the total spending by all brands that are advertising in that mediacategory.

A company can create a high share of voice with a concentrated media

strategy. That is, the company can be the dominant advertiser in a productcategory in the chosen channel. Moreover, because only one set of creativematerials will need to be prepared, a concentrated media strategy letsadvertisers spend a higher percentage of their budget on frequency andreach. But a concentrated strategy is also an "all-eggs-in-one-basket"strategy. If the particular ad is not well received or the particular mediacategory only reaches a fraction of the intended target audience, then it willperform poorly.

In contrast, media planners choose a media dispersion approach whenthey use multiple media categories, such as a combination of television,radio, newspapers and the Internet. Media planners will use dispersion ifthey know that no single media outlet will reach a sufficient percentage ofthe target audience. For example, a concentrated approach using only adson the Internet might reach only 30% of the target consumers becausesome consumers don't use the Internet. Similarly, a concentrated approachusing national news magazines might reach only 30% of the targetaudience, because not every target customer reads these magazines. But a


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dispersed approach that advertises in print magazines as well as on Websites might reach 50% of the target audience. Media planners also like thedispersion approach for the reinforcement that it brings -- consumers whosee multiple ads in multiple media for a given brand may be more likely tobuy.

Table 5 illustrates the media concentration and media dispersion approachesto the media category allocations for three hypothetical brands of fatiguerelief medication. Advertisers of Zipium took a media dispersion approach byallocating the budget relatively evenly across all four media categories, whileadvertisers of Pepzac and Enerzid took a media concentration approach byspending the budget in one or two media categories.

Table 5

Hypothetical Media Mix and Share of Voice

CompetingBrand

Television Magazine Direct Mail Internet TotalSpend byBrand

Zipium OTC $400,000 $250,000 $200,000 $300,000 $1,150,000

Pepzac $600,000 $250,000 $0 $0 $850,000

Enerzid $0 $0 $0 $600,000 $600,000

Total Spendby Category

$750,000 $500,000 $200,000 $900,000 $2,600,000

Brands' Voice in Each CategoryZipium OTC 40% 50% 100% 33% 44%

Pepzac 60% 50% 0% 0% 33%

Enerzid 0% 0% 0% 67% 23%

Total % 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Notice the share of voice figures for the three brands in television. Zipiumgets a 40% share of voice in television because it spent $400,000 out of thetotal of $1 million spent on television advertising by fatigue remedy

medications. Pepzac gets 60% because it spent $600,000 out of the $1million spent on TV. Enerzid receives a 0% share of voice in TV because itspent no money in that media category. Pepzac enjoys a dominant share ofvoice in television because it has the highest percentage of spending in thatcategory.

Looking across the other media categories, we see the effects of aconcentrated versus dispersed media approach. Although Zipium spends the


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greatest amount of money, it only achieves dominant share of voice in oneof the four media categories due to dispersal. Each of the other brands alsodominates one category. For example, Enerzid concentrates all of itsspending on the Internet. Thus, although Enerzid has a small budget, itmanages to dominate that one category through its concentrated media

approach.

The media concentration approach is often preferable for brands that have asmall or moderate media budget but intend to make a great impact. Forexample, GoDaddy.com, an Internet hosting service, bought two spots in theSuper Bowl in 2005. Because of the controversial nature of the ad, FoxNetworks canceled the second run of the ad. The controversy over the pulledad resulted in more than $11 million of free publicity.[27] The single paid adplus heavy media coverage of the incident greatly increased the awarenessof GoDaddy.[28] The spot also earned GoDaddy a 51% share of voice, apercentage which some say is the largest share of voice attributed to anySuper Bowl advertiser ever.[29]

3.1.2. Media Category Selection

Whether media planners select media concentration or media dispersion,they still must pick the media category(ies) for the media plan. Differentmedia categories suit different media objectives. Most media options can beclassified into three broad categories: mass media, direct response media,and point-of-purchase media. A media planner's choice will depend on themedia objectives. If the media planner wants to create broad awareness or

to remind the largest possible number of consumers about a brand, then heor she will pick mass media such as television, radio, newspaper andmagazine. If the media planner wants to build a relationship with a customeror encourage an immediate sales response, then direct response media suchas direct mail, the Internet and mobile phone are good choices.

For example, online ads for car insurance such as link directly to theapplication process to capture the customers right at the time they areinterested in the service. Finally, if media planners want to convert shoppersinto buyers, then they might usepoint-of-purchase media such as sampling,coupons and price-off promotions. In short, each of these three categories ofmedia serve a different role in moving the customer from brand awarenessto brand interest to purchase intent to actual purchase and then to re-purchase. An integrated campaign, such as the one described for P&G'sFusion shaving system, might use multiple categories -- combining nationalTV ads to introduce the product, Internet media to provide one-to-oneinformation, and in-store displays to drive sales.
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The creative requirements of a media category also affect media planners'decisions. Each media category has unique characteristics. For example,television offers visual impact that interweaves sight and sound, often withina narrative storyline. Magazines offer high reproduction qualitybut mustgrab the consumer with a single static image. Direct mail can carry free

samples but can require compelling ad copy in the letter and back-endinfrastructure for some form of consumer response by return mail, telephoneor Internet. Rich media ads on the Internet can combine the best of TV-styleads with interactive response via a clickthrough to the brand's own Web site.Media planners need to consider which media categories provide the mostimpact for their particular brand. The costs of developing creative materialsspecific to each media category can also limit media planners' use of themedia dispersion approach.

3.2. Geographic Allocation Decisions

In addition to allocating advertising by media category, media planners mustallocate advertising by geography. In general, a company that sellsnationally can take one of three approaches to geographic spendingallocation: a national approach (advertise in all markets), a spot approach(advertise only in selected markets), or a combinednational plus spotapproach (advertise in all markets with additional spending in selectedmarkets).

Media planners will choose a national approach if sales are relatively uniformacross the country, such as for Tide laundry detergent or Toyota

automobiles.A national approach will reach a national customer base with anational advertising program. For many other products, however, acompany's customers are concentrated in a limited subset of geographicareas, which makes a spot approach more efficient. For example, the salesof leisure boats are much higher in markets such as Florida, California andMichigan due to the large water areas in these markets. A spot approach willtarget these states. For example, a leisure boat manufacturer such as SeaRay might use a spot approach to target Florida, California and Michiganwhile not advertising in other states like Iowa or Nebraska.

Media planners perform geographic analyses by assessing the geographicconcentration of sales in two ways. The first method is called the BrandDevelopment Index (BDI) of a geographic region. BDI measures theconcentration of sales of a company's brand in that region.

The second method is called the Category Development Index (CDI) andmeasures the concentration of sales of the product category (across allbrands) in that region.
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Media planners use BDI to measure a brand's performance in a given marketin comparison with its average performance in all markets where the brandis sold. Mathematically, BDI is a ratio of a brand's sales in a givengeographic market divided by the average of its sales in all markets. BDI iscalculated for each geographic area (Market X) using the following formula:

Market X's Share of Total Brand Sales

BDI = ----------------------------------------------- X 100

Market X's Share of U.S. Population

Consider the BDI for visitors to the state of Louisiana -- the geographicconcentration of people who travel to Louisiana for business or pleasure. TheBDI for Houston is 658 because Houston is 1.8% of the U.S. population, butHoustonians make up 11.8% of visitors to Louisiana (100 * (11.8%/1.8%) =658). Because Houston's BDI is higher than 100, it means that many moreHoustonians come to Louisiana than the average from other cities. Incontrast, the New York City area has a very low BDI of only 10 because eventhough New York City has 7.2% of the U.S. population, this city contributesonly 0.7% of visitors to Louisiana.[30]

This disparity in BDI influences Louisiana's advertising strategy. Mediaplanners will tend to allocate more resources to high BDI markets (greaterthan 100) than to low BDI markets. The point is that even though New YorkCity has a much larger population, it has a much lower concentration of

travelers to Louisiana. Given that the cost of advertising is often proportionalto the population it reaches, advertising in New York City will be far moreexpensive than advertising in Houston. Because such a low percentage ofNew Yorkers travel to Louisiana, advertising to New Yorkers will be lesseffective than advertising to Houstonians.

BDI doesn't tell the whole story, however, because BDI only measures theconcentration of current sales. BDI doesn't reflect the concentration ofpotentialsales as measured by sales of the entire product category. So,media planners use another number, CDI, in addition to BDI when allocatingresources for spot advertising. CDI is a measure of a product category's

performance in a given geographic market in comparison to its averageperformance in all markets in the country. The sales of a product categoryinclude the sales of all the brands (the company's and competitors' brands)or at least all major brands that fall in the category. The CDI formula is:

Market X's Share of Total Category Sales
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CDI = ---------------------------------------------------- X 100

Market X's Share of U.S. Population

Notice the similarities and differences of the CDI formula compared to the

BDI formula. The denominator of the CDI formula is the same as that of theBDI formula, but the numerator for CDI is the share of the product categoryin a given market. For example, if the sales of the product category inMarket X account for 2 percent of its total sales in the U.S. and thepopulation in that market is 3 percent of the U.S. population, then the CDIfor that market will be 67, which is 33 percent below the average of 100.That means a poorer-than-average consumption of the product category,which means that Market X may be less promising for spot marketadvertising. On the other hand, markets with a high CDI (higher than 100)may be a better market for that product category.

Because BDI and CDI can vary independently, media planners use bothnumbers to guide allocation decisions. In general, BDI reflects theconcentration ofexisting sales while CDI reflects the concentration ofpotentialsales in a geographic region. Returning to the example of leisureboats, we find that states such as California, Florida, and Michigan have highCDIs. Yet the maker of a line of small boats that aren't suitable for the oceanmay have very high BDI in Michigan but a very low BDI in California andFlorida. Because a BDI or a CDI for a given market can each be either aboveor below the average, there will be four possible combinations, as shown inTable 6. The four combinations represent two extreme cases and two mixed

cases. At the one extreme, in a market with both a high CDI and a high BDI(both above 100), media planners will seek to maintain high market share(implied by high BDI) and might even consider more advertising to gainmarket share because of the good category potential (implied by high CDI)of the market. At the other extreme, in a market with both a low CDI and alow BDI, media planners may eschew spending their advertising dollarsthere due to the low concentration of potential consumption -- the smallboat maker may ignore New Mexico.

Table 6

Four Scenarios of BDI and CDI

CDI

BDI

High Low

HighHigh CDIHigh BDI

Low CDIHigh BDI

Low High CDI Low CDI


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Low BDI Low BDI

The mixed cases represent situations in which the percentage of brand salesin a region differs significantly from the percentage of category sales. Amarket with a high CDI and a low BDI deserves serious considerationbecause it suggests a large opportunity for increased sales. Before devotingadvertising dollars, the company will want to understand why it has suchpoor sales of its brand (low BDI) in an area with high category sales. Forexample, the maker of small boats may learn that Californians don't buy thebrand's boats because the boats are unsuitable for the ocean. If the causesof the poor brand performance can be identified and solved (such as bychanging the product or finding better distribution), then more advertisingshould be worthwhile.

A low CDI and high BDI represents the enviable position of selling well in a

market that does not otherwise buy products in that category. A market withlow CDI and a high BDI requires continued advertising support to maintainthe superior brand performance.

One approach to resource allocation uses a weighted sum of BDI and CDI --spending money in each geography in proportion to a combined BDI plusCDI score. With this approach, media planners need to first assign a weightto the BDI and to the CDI. These two weights represent the relativeimportance of the BDI and CDI, and the sum of two weights should equal 1.On the one hand, media planners might choose a high weight on CDI if theyfeel their brand is representative of the broader category and they expect

their brand to attain a geographic pattern of sales that matches that of thecategory. On the other hand, they might place a high weight on BDI if theirbrand is unique, the category is very diverse, or the company wants to growsales among current customers.

Consider a hypothetical example in which a media planner thinks the BDI isthree times more important than the CDI in allocating spending. He or shewould use a weight of .75 with the BDI values and .25 with the CDI values ofeach geography to calculate a weighted sum and a percentage for each ofthe markets. Then, she can use the percentage as a base for spending

allocation in each market, as show in Table 7. That is, Market A will receive16 percent of the media spending, Market B will receive 22 percent, and soon. All the percentages added together will equal 100 percent.

Table 7

Hypothetical Spending Allocation in Markets with 75% BDI and 25%CDI


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GeographicMarket

BDI CDI 75%WeightedBDI

25%WeightedCDI

WeightedSum

SpendingPercentage

North 74 89 56 22 78 16%

East 111 99 83 25 108 22%Central 93 129 69 32 102 20%

South 139 109 104 27 131 26%

West 83 74 63 19 81 16%

Media planners can use another index -- growth potential index (GPI) -- toassess growth opportunities in geographic markets. GPI is simply the ratio ofthe CDI over the BDI and is one way of quantifying the discrepancy betweencategory sales (the potential sales for the market) and brand sales (currentsales) to measure of the growth potential of a brand in a market. Theformula of the GPI is as follows:

Market X's CDI

GPI = ---------------------- X 100

Market X's BDI

For example, if Market X has a CDI of 120 and a BDI of 80, then the GPI willbe 150. This high value of GPI suggests a growth potential of 50% in this

market -- that if the brand sold as well in that market as it does nationwide,sales would grow 50%. Of course, media planners should examine thespecific conditions of a high GPI market before allocating resources to assessthe true possibilities for growth. When a brand sells in many markets, theGPI can facilitate the selection of markets for additional spot advertisingspending.

3.3. Media Schedule Decisions

Having decided how to advertise (the media mix) and where to advertise(allocation across geography), media planners need to consider when to

advertise. Given a fixed annual budget, should all months receive equalamounts of money or should some months receive more of the budget whileother months receive less or nothing? Media planners can choose amongthree methods of scheduling: continuity, flight, and pulse. Continuityscheduling spreads media spending evenly across months. For example,with an annual budget of $1,200,000 a year, continuity scheduling wouldallocate exactly $100,000 per month. This method ensures steady brand


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exposure over each purchase cycle for individual consumers. It also takesadvantage of volume discounts in media buying. However, becausecontinuity scheduling usually requires a large budget, it may not be practicalfor small advertisers.

The flight scheduling approach alternates advertising across months, withheavy advertising in certain months and no advertising at all in othermonths. For example, a board game maker like Parker Brothers mightconcentrate its advertising in the fall when it knows that many people buyboard games as gifts for the holidays. Or, with the same budget of$1,200,000, for example, a different brand could spend $200,000 per monthduring each of six months -- January, March, May, July, September andDecember -- and spend nothing during the other months, in hopes that theimpact of advertising in the previous month can last into the followingmonth.

Pulse scheduling combines the first two scheduling methods, so that thebrand maintains a low level of advertising across all months but spendsmore in selected months. For example, an airline like United Airlines mightuse a low level of continuous advertising to maintain brand awarenessamong business travelers. United Airlines might also have seasonal pulses toentice winter-weary consumers to fly to sunny climes.In budget allocationterms, a consumer goods brand may spend $5,000 in each of the twelvemonths to maintain the brand awareness and spend an additional $10,000 inJanuary, March, May, July, September and December to attract brandswitchers from competing brands. The pulse scheduling method takes

advantage of both the continuity and flight scheduling methods andmitigates their weaknesses. However, this does not mean it is good for allproducts and services. Which method is the most appropriate for a givencampaign depends on several important factors.

How do media planners select among continuity, flight, and pulse schedulingapproaches? The timing of advertising depends on three factors: seasonality,consumers' product purchase cycle, and consumers' interval betweendecision-making and consumption.

The first, and most important, factor is sales seasonality. Companies don'tadvertise fur coats in summer and suntan lotions in winter. Likewise, someproducts sell faster around specific holidays, such as flowers on Mother'sDay, candy on Halloween, and ornaments around Christmas. Companieswith seasonal products are more likely to choose flight scheduling toconcentrate their advertising for the peak sales season. Other goods,however, such as everyday products like milk and toothpaste, may lack aseasonal pattern. Everyday goods may be better served by a continuity


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approach. Media planners can use a breakdown of sales by month to identifyif their brand has seasonal fluctuations, which can serve as a guide for theallocation. They can allocate more money to high-sales months and less tolow-sales months.

The second factor that affects when advertising is scheduled is the productpurchase cycle: the interval between two purchases. Fast-moving consumergoods such as bread, soft drinks and toilet paper probably requirecontinuous weekly advertising in a competitive market to constantlyreinforce brand awareness and influence frequently-made purchasedecisions. In contrast, less-frequently purchased products such as carpetcleaner or floor polisher may only need advertising a few times a year.

A third factor that affects media scheduling is the time interval betweenwhen the purchase decision is made and when a product or service isactually bought and consumed. For example, many families who takesummer vacations may plan their trips months before the actual trips. Thatis, they make purchase decision in advance. Thus, travel industryadvertisers will schedule their ads months before the summer, as we saw inthe Wyoming example. Destination advertising has to be in sync with thetime of decision making, instead of the actual consumption time.

New product launches usually require initial heavy advertising to createbrand awareness and interest. The launch period may last from a fewmonths to a year. As mentioned earlier, P&G launched its Gillette six-bladedFusion shaving system with advertising on Super Bowl XL, the most

expensive form of advertising in the world. If consumers like the product,then personal influence in the form of word-of-mouth or market force (brandvisibility in life and media coverage) will play a role in accelerating theadoption of a new brand. Personal influence and market force are"unplanned" messages, which often play an important role in new productlaunches. Media planners should take advance of these "unplanned"messages in a new product launch campaign.

4. Designing Media Tactics

Establishing media objectives and developing media strategies are theprimary tasks of media planners. Designing media tactics is largely carriedout by media buyers. Media buyers select media vehicles to implementestablished media strategies. Among the major factors that affect mediavehicle selection are reach and frequency considerations.

4.1. Reach Considerations


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As a major component of media objectives, the planned level of reachaffects not only media mix decisions but also what media vehicles are usedin each media category. High levels of reach will require a different set ofmedia vehicles than low levels of reach. That is, high levels of reach can bebetter served with a mix that includes multiple media vehicles with different

audiences so that cross-media duplication of audience is minimal. Forexample, if there are three magazines that each reach a portion of thetarget audience but that have few readers who read more than onemagazine, advertising in these three magazines would reach the widesttarget audience possible because of the low overlap of the readers of thethese magazines.

What are some ways to maximize the levels of reach? One way is to analyzethe audience composition of media vehicles by using syndicated mediaresearch. For example, cross-tabulations of Simmons data can be conductedto identify several magazines that reach the target audience of women aged35 to 55, with little cross-title duplication -- few readers of one magazinealso read other the magazines. These magazines can be used to implementhigh levels of reach in the media plan. When audience data are not availablefor cross-vehicle comparisons, you can select competing media vehicles inthe same media category, because there is usually less duplication amongthe competing media vehicles. For example, most people who are interestedin news may read one of the three major news weeklies: Newsweek, Time,and U.S. News and World Report; few people read all three of them.Therefore, running a print ad in all the three news magazines can reach awide audience.

In television, media buyers sometimes use roadblocking, which means theplacement of commercials in all major television networks in the sameperiod of time. No matter which television channel an audience membertunes in at that time, they have the opportunity to watch the commercial.The roadblocking approach has become more expensive and less effectiverecently because of increasing fragmentation of television audience. Theterm has been extended to the online world, however, where it has beenvery effective. To roadblock in the online world, a media planner can buy allthe advertising on a Web site for a 24-hour period, such as Coke did for itslaunch of C2 and Ford did for its launch the F-150. Each company bought allthe ad space on the front page of Yahoo for a 24-hour period. The Yahoofront page draws 25 million visitors a day. Alternatively, media planners canroadblock Yahoo, MSN, and AOL all on the same day, as Coke and Pepsihave both done. The results can produce "an astonishing, astronomicalamount of reach," said Mohan Renganathan of MediaVest Worldwide, one ofthe biggest services for buying ad space.[31]


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4.2. Frequency Considerations

In contrast to high levels of reach, high levels of frequency can be effectivelyachieved through advertising in a smaller number of media vehicles toelevate audience duplications within these media vehicles. A commercial that

runs three times during a 30-minute television program will result in highermessage repetition than the same commercial that runs once in threedifferent programs.

Broadcast media are often used when high levels of frequency are desired ina relatively short period of time. Broadcast media usually enjoy a "vertical"audience, who tune in to a channel for more than one program over hours.Another phenomenon in broadcast media is audience turnover, which refersto the percentage of audience members who tune out during a program.Programs with low audience turnover are more effective for high levels offrequency.

4.3. Media Vehicle Characteristics

With reach and frequency considerations in mind, media buyers will comparemedia vehicles in terms of both quantitative and qualitative characteristics.Quantitative characteristics are those that can be measured and estimatednumerically, such as vehicle ratings, audience duplication with othervehicles, geographic coverage, and costs. Media buyers will choose vehicleswith high ratings and less cross-vehicle audience duplication when they needhigh levels of reach. Media buyers also evaluate the geographic coverage of

media vehicles when implementing spot advertising such as heavyadvertising in certain geographic regions. Finally, media buyers payattention to the costs of each media vehicle. When two media vehicles aresimilar in major aspects, media buyers choose the less expensive mediavehicle.

There are two basic calculations of media vehicle cost. The first one, costper rating point (CPP), is used primarily for broadcast media vehicles. Toderive the CPP, divide the cost of a 30-second commercial by the ratings ofthe vehicle in which the advertisement is placed.[SIDEBAR DEFINITION:CPP: The cost of a broadcast ad per rating point (1% of the population)provided by the media vehicle that shows the ad.] The formula forcalculating CPP is as follows:

Cost Per Rating Point = Cost of the Ad / Rating of the Vehicle


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For example, if the cost for a 30-second commercial ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"television program is $440,000[32] and the rating of the program is 9.7,then CPP for this buy will be $25,360.

Another media cost term is cost per thousand impressions (CPM), which

is the cost to have 1000 members of the target audience exposed to anad.[[SIDEBAR DEFINITION for CPM: Cost Per Thousand (M is the Latinabbreviation for 1000): the cost per 1000 impressions for an ad]] As yourecall, the impressions are simply opportunities to see the ad. one differencebetween CPP and CPM is that CPM also contains the size of a vehicleaudience. CPM is calculated in two steps. First, the gross impressions that anad may get is calculated using the rating of the program and the size of themarket population. Second, CPM is calculated using the cost and grossimpressions. The two formulas are as follows:

Gross Impressions = Audience size * Rating / 100

CPM = Cost / Gross Impressions * 1000

Using the previous example, the rating of a television program is 10 and thecost for a 30-second commercial is $25,000. If there are 5,000,000 adults inthe market, then CPM for the buy will be as follows:

Gross Impressions = 5,000,000 * 10 / 100 = 500,000

CPM = $25,000 / 500,000 * 1000 = $50

Thus, CPM for this media buy is $50.

CPM can be calculated for different media, including online media. Forexample, an informal consensus of online media buyers agreed that a $10CPM asking price seemed about average to pay for advertising on social-networking like Friendster, Yahoo 360 and Britain's FaceParty.[33]

In contrast to these quantitative characteristics, qualitative characteristics ofmedia vehicles are those that are primarily judgmental, such as vehiclereputation, editorial environment, reproduction quality, and added values.

For example, media vehicles vary in reputation; newspapers such as TheNew York Times and The Wall Street Journalgenerally enjoy high reputation.Furthermore, the editorial environment can be more or less favorable foradvertisers. The impact of food ads, for instance, can be enhanced whenthey appear around articles about health or nutrition. Likewise, somemagazines are better in reproduction quality than others, which enhance theimpact of the ads. Finally, some media vehicles offer added values.Added


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values take various forms, and they benefit advertisers without additionalcost. For example, a newspaper may publish a special page whose editorialcontext fits an advertiser's products, or a television channel may host a localevent in association with a car dealership. Media buyers can work with themedia to invent creative forms of added values for advertisers.

4.4. Selection of Media Vehicles

Media buyers can use tools, like the one shown below, to make the processof selecting a media vehicle easier. To use the selection tool shown in Figure9I, develop a list of the potential vehicle candidates you are considering.Then, select several quantitative and qualitative characteristics that arerelevant to reach and frequency considerations, such as quantitativecharacteristics like CPM or GRP, and qualitative characteristics like reputationand added value. Next, make a table that lists the vehicle candidates in rowsand the characteristics in columns. Now you can rate each of thecharacteristics of each vehicle on a scale of 1 to 3. Then add all the numbersin each row, dividing by the total number of characteristics (columns) toarrive at the rating for each vehicle. The best media vehicles to choose arethose with the highest index numbers. In Figure 8, Vehicle 2 and Vehicle 3are the best ways to reach the target audience.

Figure 8: Selection of Media Vehicle Based on Quantitative and

Qualitative Characteristics

Qn1 Qn2 Qn3 Ql1 Ql2 Ql3 Index

V1 3 2 1 3 1 1 1.8

V2 1 2 2 2 2 3 2.0

V3 1 3 3 1 1 3 2.0

V4 1 1 2 1 2 1 1.3

5. Evaluating Media Plan Effectiveness

Accountability is increasingly important in media planning, as more

advertisers expect to see returns on their investments in advertising.Because media spending usually accounts for 80 percent or more of thebudget for typical advertising campaigns, the effectiveness of media plans isof particular importance. As a result, media planners often make measuresof the effectiveness of a media plan an integral part of the media plan.Although sales results are the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of anadvertising campaign, the sales result is affected by many factors, such as


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price, distribution and competition, which are often out of the scope of theadvertising campaign.[34] It is important, therefore, to identify whatmeasures are most relevant to the effectiveness of media planning andbuying. We will examine the topic of measurement in more detail in chapters21 and 22, but here is an introduction to measurement that is specific to

media plans.

5.1. What to Measure

Because of the hierarchical nature of the media effects, the effectiveness ofmedia planning should be measured with multiple indictors. The firstmeasure is the actual execution of scheduled media placements. Did the adsappear in the media vehicles in agreed-upon terms? Media buyers look at"tear-sheets" -- copies of the ads as they have appeared in print media --for verification purposes. For electronic media, media buyers examine theratings of the programs in which commercials were inserted to make surethe programs delivered the promised ratings. If the actual program ratingsare significantly lower than what the advertiser paid for, the media usually"make good" for the difference in ratings by running additional commercialswithout charge.

The most direct measure of the effectiveness of media planning is the mediavehicle exposure. Media planners ask: How many of the target audiencewere exposed to the media vehicles and to ads in those vehicles during agiven period of time? This question is related to the communication goals inthe media objectives. If the measured level of exposure is near to or

exceeds the planned reach and frequency, then the media plan is consideredto be effective.

Several additional measures can be made of the target audience, such as:

Brand awareness -- how many of the target audience are aware of theadvertised brand?Comprehension -- does the target audience understand the advertisedbrand? Is there any miscomprehension?Conviction -- is the target audience convinced by ads? How do they like theadvertised brands?Action -- how many of the target audience have purchased the advertisedbrand as a result of the media campaign?

The measured results of brand awareness, comprehension, conviction andaction are often a function of both advertising creative and media planning.Even effective media planning may not generate anticipated cognitive,affective and conative responses if the ads are poorly created and not


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appealing to the target audience. On the other hand, ineffective mediaplanning may be disguised when the ads are highly creative and brilliant.Thus, these measures should be reviewed by both creative directors andmedia planners to make accurate assessments of the effectiveness of themedia plan.

5.2. How to Measure

The measurement of the effectiveness of a media plan can be conducted bythe advertising agency or by independent research services, using methodssuch as surveys, feedback, tracking, and observation. Each method has itsstrengths and weaknesses. For example, surveys can be conducted among asampling of the target audience in the different periods of a mediacampaign, such as in the beginning, the middle and the end of thecampaign. Surveys can ask questions about the target audience's mediabehavior, advertising recall, brand attitudes and actual purchase.Radiowatch, for instance, conducts monthly surveys on advertising recall ofradio commercials in England. Radiowatch surveys 1000 adults age 16-64and asks them which radio commercials they remember hearing. In the April2006 survey, the most-recalled ad was for T-Mobile, with 46% ofrespondents recalling the ad. An ad for McDonald's had 36% recall, while thead for Peugeot received 18%.

Besides surveys, feedback can be collected to measure the media and adexposure of the target audience. Feedback devices such as reply cards, toll-free numbers, coupons and Web addresses can be provided in ads so that

tallies of the responses or redemptions can be made to estimate the impactof advertising media. Advertisers often use a different code in directresponse ads to identify different media vehicles. For example, in the April 32006 issue ofBusinessWeek, the reply card for subscribing to the magazinehad a code of JS6D1, whereas the reply card bound into the May 29, 2006issue of the magazine had a code of JS6E2. Similarly, when the Garden ofEatin' gives coupons for its tortilla chips, the UPC code on the couponindicates which media vehicle the coupon was in, such as whether thecoupon came from the 2006 Bolder Boulder promotional calendar or fromthe Organic and Natural Experience (ONE) 2006 Tour book of coupons. Inshort, by reviewing the different codes recorded, media buyers can assessthe response rate of each media vehicle.

As you can see from the Radiowatch and Garden of Eatin' examples, oneadvantage of surveys over feedback devices is that surveys reach peoplewho have taken no action on the product, whereas feedback devices requirethe consumer to mail back, click or call a toll-free number. In this way,surveys can help media buyers evaluate the effectiveness of an ad in


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relation to other ads, whereas feedback devices help them evaluate theeffectiveness of one media vehicle over another.

Tracking is measurement method that media buyers use to track theeffectiveness of online ads. When a user visits a Web site or clicks on a

banner ad, Web servers automatically log that action in real time. The logsof these visits and actions are very useful for media buyers, because thebuyers can use them to estimate the actual interaction of audience memberswith the interactive media. For example, a banner ad may have a code foreach Web site where the ad is placed. Media buyers can compare the click-through rates of the banner ad across all Web sites daily, to estimate theeffectiveness of each Web site. Media buyers are making more use of thetracking method given the increasing use of interactive media.

Finally, in the physical world, media buyers can use observation to collectaudience reaction information at the points of purchase or during marketingevents. For example, researchers can be stationed in grocery stores toobserve how consumers react to in-store advertising or how they select anadvertised brand in comparison of other brands. The advantage ofobservation is that it provides rich, detailed data on how consumers behavein real situations in response to the marketing communication. The downsideis that direct observation is more costly to conduct and tabulate.

This article described the media planning process, starting from establishingmedia objectives through to developing media strategies and tactics andfinally evaluating the effectiveness of the media plan. You've learned how to

identify your target audience; evaluate different media vehicles on the basisof reach, frequency and GRPs; make prudent media mix decisions usingtools like BDI and CDI and scheduling concepts like continuity, flight andpulse scheduling; make sound budget decisions using tools like CPP andCPM; and, finally, evaluate the effectiveness of your media plan throughsurveys, feedback devices, tracking and observation. In the next fourchapters, we'll delve more deeply into the different types of media ?printmedia, broadcast media, out-of-home media and interactive media ?to helpyou understand the ad formats, strengths/weakness and cost structures ofeach of these advertising media.

Some technical support provided by:Massage Schools Chicago11 E Ohio StSuite J23Chicago, IL 60611

References


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[1] Veronis Suhler Stevenson (2005), "Communications Industry Forecast2005-2009," New York.

[2] Susan Spillman (1985), "Marketers Race to Leave Their Brand on Films,"Advertising Age, July 1, 56 (51): 3-4 and

http://www.itvx.com/SpecialReport.asp as retrieved on May 5, 2006

[3] http://www.subservientchicken.com/

[4] Wilcha, Kristin. (2005) "Winning Ways," Shoot June 10, p15(3)

[5] Creamer, Matthew (2006), "Disclosure doesn't Hamper Word of MouthMarketing," Advertising Age, January 19,http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=47532.

[6] Wasserman, Todd (2006) "Word Games," Brandweek, April 24, 2006

p24(4)

[7] Daniel Gross (2005), "The Scramble on Mad. Ave.," Fortune, August 8,63-64.

[8] Cliff Peale (2006), "P&G Angles for Fusion Razor," The CincinnatiEnquirer, February 8, 2006.

[9] William C. Symonds ( 2005) "Gillette's Five-Blade Wonder,"BusinessWeek, September 15, 2005.

[10] Jack Neff (2005), "Gillette to launch Fusion Shaver with Super BowlAd," Advertising Age, December 21(http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=47247)

[11] Justin Rubner (2006) "Telecom giants square off in ad spat,"AtlantaBusiness Chronicle, May 19, 2006

[12] Solman, Gregory (2005). "Mazda Is Fine-tuning Media Mix With LessTV." ADWEEK Western Edition, December 21, 2005

[13] http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/innovators.shtml

[14] Yuichi Washida (2005), "Collaborative Structure between JapaneseHigh-tech Manufacturers and Consumers," Journal of Consumer Marketing,22(1), 25-34.

[15] http://www.smrb.com/
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